My Webcomic's Origin Story | Art + Storytime

People always ask me how Castoff came to be. So I'm gonna talk about it!

SOCIALS:

MUSIC:
Almost Bliss, Late Night Radio, and Sincerely
by Kevin MacLeod

[CatComixzStudios]

It's not too late to bring back Arianna's magic gun

[Harudodo]

My first webcomic was called Reinvention, a slice-of-life story about a rich kid who ended up in a homeless shelter and ends up becoming a completely different person. I dropped it after three chapters, mainly because I discovered the endless scroll format just wasn't for me.
After that ended, I drew some one shots, entered some contests, and now I'm getting revved up to try a new story I've been sitting on for five years! This time fitting the tastes I discovered while drawing one shot comics

[rainydays]

A MESSAGE FOR STAR!!! I really hope you read this.

So I've been reading your webcomic for a few weeks now, and I LOVE IT. I wanted to thank you for making it, but not just in the normal old "oh thanks for making this becuase it looks pretty and I love the storyline!" way. Well, that too. But I wanted to thank you for writing Vector the way he is.
He really resonates with me. I have severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and these things make me feel like I'm dying when I'm in a crowd or meeting new people. I read this webcomic and thought to myself, "hey, Vector's got the same problems as me!"
It really means a lot to see myself represented in such a powerful way, and through a media I love. So, thank you Star. Thank you for making me feel seen <3

[FutureMint]

Working on a comic page rn, these videos are the only thing motivating me lmao 💀

[bla__berries]

I'm working on a comic called 'Marionette'. Its gaslight fantasy (steampunk with magic). The title has a lot to do with it as my main themes revolve around being controlled and used as a puppet. The first part of the comic is going to focus on a murderer known as the puppeteer who hangs their victims by the hands and legs resembling a puppet 😤

[b.appleby]

You have inspired me to start working on my own comic ideas, I'm still bouncing around ideas. But thank you so much for the little push I needed.

[bella_daze]

This webcomic changed my life. I’m forever thankful for that day in April where I found this video and started reading castoff. Thank you so much for changing my life.❤

[Luke_Craft]

I just wanted to take the time to thank you for everything you do, Star! You were one of the many few inspirations for me starting my webcomic series. It's still in it's infancy, but I do already see massive progress on both my art style and consistency, but also my pacing! It's not an easy task, and there are many moments of burnout and heartache along the way... that's one of the harder pills to swallow when it comes to comic making, and I am just now learning that it's a common, and very human thing.

I guess, all of this to say, I am most inspired by your persistence and determination to make something cool that you liked, and pushed through all of the hardships to keep it going even today! That takes a lot of dedication and focus, and you've come so far in your journey! I'm proud of you, even if it is weird, me being a stranger from another corner of the world-wide web. :P

[StormAsher]

I’ve been developing a huge expansive story since I was 5, and over the years whenever I write and add new “chapters” to it I keep getting better and better at writing it, but i’m just not good at drawing so I’ve never made a “comic” version of it😅 And nowadays I’m starting to realize that Writing really is my passion, and I want to explore that and share my stories with the world, but I’m worried I might never be able to

[gcbreptile]

About half a week ago I found your webcomic and read the entire thing in like two days lol. It's SOOOO good! I absolutely love all the characters and their interactions, and the art is just beautiful! It's inspired my to maybe try making my own comic, but I really doubt my artistic abilities, so we'll see about that... still, really cool to hear about Castoff's origin story, I can't wait for every new page you release :D

[LoporianIndustries]

You have a voice that calms me down. Thanks for being you. It brightens my life in just the right way that I needed.

[lilymoon]

So I have a work in progress universe and i dont wanna dump, but there is a few really fun details.
1. Its not 1 comic series, its (currently) 3, and the combined universe is called Theior.
2. 1 of the series, was funnily enpugh, the exact same way you came up with castoff, a dream. So the plot is tweaked and molded around the dreams. And the orignal dream is not at all what I came up with originally, I had the dream when I was 8, and while working on my other comic, I redesigned the charcters, and that night, I had a dream about them, in REDESIGNED FORM! I was so excited.

[aetherkye]

God, I love hearing the origin story of your own comic! It gives me a lot of motivation/inspiration for my own story that has been sitting around doing absolutely nothing.

I'm thinking of just going full mixed media at this point as no single medium seems to keep my attention for very long. I also love how ours has very similar origins being in dreams, at this point I've kinda made it a thing where most of my dreams that I remember are basically canon since they actually seem to have some sort of plot? All I need to do is fill in the blanks and I've got a story!

[BugsyBugYT]

i love rewatching this video every now and then, it helps me keep up motivation for lots of my projects. im planning on making a short comic sometime soon about a characters backstory thats talked about in a book im writing but only vaguely, its probably gonna be at least a bit long but stuff like this reminds me that when im ready to make it its possible.

[donovanican]

Love the video! Its crazy to see how long and bumpy castoffs rise is!! Ive been in the works jumbling ideas for my own comic, its about a team of mercenaries who work for the steampunk state, are given their hardest mission ever; being to assassinate the King of the utopic futuristic rival country. With each member having their own disability (blind, deaf, and mute) they uncover more and more dark secrets about their own state as they struggle to carry out the mission. Most of the characters are based off birds because i have an unyielding passion for birds, and I swear its a lot more detailed than how i said it. Its an idea that feels like a dream, and im unsure about how much do I actually dedicate to this idea. But seeing your channel gives me inspiration, I even got your book lol. Because I wanna become a better artist and just make something me and many other people could enjoy and love

[scarsound]

I know it’s been 2 years since you made this vid, but I just discovered your channel and this is super inspiring 🤍

I started the concept for my webcomic back in 2018 and I felt terrible about the fact that it’s only now being made… But hearing you talk about how long you mulled over Cast Off, and seeing the similarities in my own journey, has been huge!

I’m so glad now that it took me 6 years to finally get to this point, because as I matured as a person (I was 18 in 2018), my story has matured with it and it’s gonna be even better than what I originally had planned

So thank you, Star!

[Froggulent]

0:15 yes there is... its called... ADHD!!! *dramatic piano and instrumentals*

[LunarCharlie]

I'm working on a webcomic called the last wizard. The main character leif is the last survivor of a massacre that almost wiped out almost all the wizards. The story takes place a year after the massacre and they would meet Emily and Eddie. The first bit of the story will be abt getting to know the characters while leif tries to hide the fact that they're a wizard. I'm working on the pilot and trying to figure out how to make a good storyline

[froggyfanatic-db]

I've never really thought about creating a comic, I always wrote stories and I draw stuff (like the character from my stories) but I never really had the intention to combine it, but lately I've been watching so many of your (and other creator's) videos about web comics, I kinda wanna give it a shot. So far I've only got a rough idea in my head:

We've got a world where magic technically exists but it mostly forgotten, the last wizards died centuries ago. The protagonist is a kid who grew up with stories about the ancient times and decides that they want to become the first new age wizard. Magic is a skill and a science and there is no one left to teach them, so they travel the world looking for old texts and artefacts to reconstruct how magic was used, kind of like reconstructing an ancient dead language.
They're not alone on their quest, they are accompanied by a talking, way too enthusiastic hamster, who ate a magic artefact that made him sentient. The hamster's goal is to slay a dragon and therefore he needs an adventuring party, good thing he already found a wizard! Now he just need to find a dragon to slay

[Boing_studios]

My comic is about people who can use the energy inside them and transfer it to physically form and do different things with it